


treasures and gifts

by stuff_and_nonsense



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Class Differences, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-26 20:57:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17148959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuff_and_nonsense/pseuds/stuff_and_nonsense
Summary: Caleb is a servant at the Lavish Chateau, trying to keep his head down. Jester is a complication in his plans.





	treasures and gifts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hufflepirate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflepirate/gifts).



> Thank you for a fantastic prompt!
> 
> Warnings for Caleb's self-loathing and one scene of canon-typical violence.
> 
> This assumes some canon knowledge of Jester's and Caleb's backstories, but I think it's still readable without.

Nicodranas was not a good place to be unemployed, Caleb was starting to realize. There weren't so many beggars here as other places, and the attentions of the Zhelezo made his usual ways of getting money too risky. He didn't usually try to find work - he moved on too often, and he was in no shape for most manual labor - but, well, he might be here for a while. It was large enough for his purposes, and very far from Rexxentraum. He asked around.

He got a tip about the Lavish Chateau – they were usually hiring for dishwashers or cleaners. “They’re a bit picky,” the man in the bar told him, eyeing his shabby clothing, “but it pays well enough. And if nothing else you might get a look at the Ruby.”

So here he was, cloaked in a disguise spell to look slightly less desperate, explaining his qualifications to a stern-faced woman. “I will work hard. I’m not here to socialize, and no task is too menial,” he said. “And I understand discretion.” This place, the luxurious inn that housed the famous courtesan The Ruby of the Sea, was intimidating after so many years on the streets, but even the wealthiest place needed someone to clean the floors. 

“Well, that’s what we’re looking for,” she said, though her expression was still a bit suspicious. Caleb was making what he could of his inconsistent social skills, pulling out all the charm he used for his cons, but he was still a foreigner with no connections here. “We’ll try you out washing dishes.”

She passed him a uniform, and he started work that day, scrubbing plates over a basin in the huge kitchen. It was harder work than he’d expected - it had been a long time since the farm labor of his childhood. But he got through it, eavesdropping on the conversations of the other workers to keep his mind from dangerous wanderings. 

It was nearly midnight when he left, as the Chateau served food well into the evening. He was sent off with a small share of the day’s tips, and some bits of leftover food, still a far better meal than he was used to. It wasn’t nearly enough yet for an inn, so he returned to the alley where he’d spent the night before, set his alarm up around him, and fell into the heaviest sleep he’d had in ages. 

He had some hours the next morning before he had to report, which he spent looking for a bathhouse. He’d rather not cast disguise self every day, and even with the uniform he looked far too grubby to be allowed to work near food. He’d have to use a different method of invisibility for a while, but a servant’s uniform might work nearly as well. Returning to the Lavish Chateau, he was let back into the kitchen and put to the same task as yesterday.

The work suited him, he soon decided. He could stand there and scrub and speak to no one, and he had enough time in the morning hours to go through his spells or wander the city for magic books. After receiving his first real pay, he was able to find lodging – just a bunk in a flophouse full of other menial workers, but at least it was sheltered from the rain and the Zhelezo. He spoke to no one, kept his head down, and tried to save enough to get the supplies he needed for his spells. He wasn’t making much progress with his studies - too much here was barred off by social access or large sums of money. But, coward that he was, he didn’t want to give up the regular meals to move on just yet.

The days turned into weeks turned into several months. He continued his work in the kitchen, usually washing up but sometimes conscripted to chop vegetables or unload deliveries. Mathilde, the stern woman who ran the kitchen and had hired him on, decided after a few weeks that she approved, and abandoned her suspicious looks. He was efficient, didn’t waste his time chatting, didn’t ask stupid questions but solved problems for himself. He was moved away from the dishes more and more often, and one day told that he’d be sent out of the kitchen to a new set of tasks. 

“They need someone else to clean the guest rooms,” Mathilde told him. “It’s a pain for me, but would you mind transferring over?” Caleb supposed he may as well. There was the risk of having to interact with guests, of course, but also a bit more chance of picking up useful information.

“You’ll have to be vetted by the Ruby,” he was told. “She insists on knowing everyone who works on the upper floors.” The next day, before beginning his work, he was brought into the grand main area of the Chateau for the first time. He took it in, committing to memory the grand staircase and the finely laid-out tables. The place was nearly empty at this hour, with only a few people eating a late breakfast.

One of them was the Ruby of the Sea. He’d heard the songs about her, in his wanderings around Nicodranas, and she was immediately recognizable as their subject. Even eating breakfast, she was stunningly beautiful, elegant and perfectly put together. More noticeable at first though was the enormous minotaur who stood behind her, scanning the room. His eyes landed on Caleb, who tried not to flinch as Mathilde led him over.

The meeting was mercifully brief. Mathilde introduced him as the prospective addition to the cleaning staff upstairs, and said she’d vouch for his work. The Ruby looked him over, her eyes more perceptive than she’d expected, and asked his name.

“Caleb Widogast,” he said a bit stiffly, uncertain of the etiquette.

“Zemnian?” she asked. “You’ve traveled a long way to clean hotel rooms.”

“And Nicodranas has welcomed me,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “My life has taken some unexpected turns, but I will not bring trouble to your door.” He had to hope that was true, that he’d gone far enough to avoid those who might still look for him.

The Ruby looked at him for a long moment, then turned to Mathilde. “I don’t object, if you approve of him, but perhaps a shift with minimal interaction with guests.” Caleb flushed a bit, though it was a more than reasonable decision.

“Of course,” said Mathilde, and led him out. He was sent off to be trained on his new duties. It didn’t take too long to pick up. Hard work, as much as the kitchen had been, with the additional requirement of looking blank-faced when guests passed by, and of running off to fulfill any requests they might ask of him.

He settled quickly back into a routine, cleaning the inn rooms and the halls just outside, but soon noticed that there seemed to be something odd going on at the Chateau. He’d find things left behind in the rooms he cleaned, more than the usual bit of trash or the occasional wreckage of debauchery. Drawings left on end-tables, candy hidden in drawers, furniture stacked up. The drawings were the most troublesome – generally caricatures of the guests, often obscene. He’d have to scour the room to find them, to make sure a guest wouldn’t, although he didn’t really mind so much. More time to spend in privacy, and they really were quite good, even made him come close to laughter sometimes. 

He asked about it, to some of the other servants. This had been going on as long as any of them had been there, he was told, both the drawings and other strange occurrences. One of them was convinced the place was haunted, but most of the others rolled their eyes at her, although they offered no other explanation. 

More and more of the drawings and small gifts turned up as he worked there longer. He even found a sketch of himself once, with a bushier beard and a grouchy expression. He gradually began to look forward to them, pocketing the things instead of throwing them out, and to wonder more about the source. 

There were other odd events too, noticeable to someone so much in the background as him. All apparently harmless enough - guests leaving with rearranged clothing, windows opening suddenly, strange noises on the third floor. It wasn’t really any business of his, and he wouldn’t stick his neck out, but he began to pay closer attention to what might be going on.

He was scrubbing the third-floor hallway when everything changed. It was just outside the Ruby’s rooms, but she took no visitors this time of day, so there should have been no one to see him. Even the Ruby’s personal maids would be in her chamber helping her get ready, not wandering the halls. So it startled him quite a bit when he heard footsteps from behind him.

He scanned the hallway but saw no one. He picked up his brush again, and heard them from the other side, far down the hall. Another moment, and the sound was right in front of him, startling him enough that he knocked his bucket of water over. He cursed and tried to right it, but not in time to prevent it flooding the hallway. 

With the slow progress he’d been making, he couldn’t do much about it with magic. He’d have to go downstairs to get rags to soak it up. Berating himself for his uselessness, he mopped up what he could, but decided to see if he could find the source before he left. Checking the hallway for company one last time, he summoned Frumpkin, placing him carefully away from the puddle of water, and leaned himself against a wall as he transferred his vision to the cat. 

He sent Frumpkin off down the hall and had him peek around the corner. There was someone crouched there – a blue-skinned woman with curled horns, hands pressed over her mouth as if to stifle giggles. He sent Frumpkin the rest of the way towards her, and she let out a squeal, immediately bending over to fuss over the cat.

As he watched through Frumpkin’s eyes, she took one hand from her mouth and reached it out to the cat, palm up. “You’re so lovely!” she said. “Where did you come from, kitty?” He had Frumpkin sniff her hand and then purr. She let out a small, happy “Oh!”, and began to scratch the cat’s head. Caleb returned to his own body before it got weird, leaving Frumpkin with the command to act as cute and distracting as possible.

She couldn’t be so bad, if she liked cats. She was well-dressed, much more like a guest than another servant, but nearly all of the rooms up here were being cleaned today - there should be almost no one on this floor. He decided to take the risk, returning to his own vision and walking down the hallway towards her, holding a spell at his fingertips just in case. 

“Pardon me,” he said as he turned the corner. “Can I help you with anything?” She jumped nearly as badly as he had, and backed away, scooping up Frumpkin. He got his first look at her through his own eyes: a solidly built tiefling, skin an unusual blue shade and tail twitching behind her. Her age was hard to read, and her features were rather lovely, he noticed despite himself. She was a bit disheveled, as if she’d been running, but finely dressed, with jewelry that was probably worth more than his life.

“Oh, no,” she said. “I’m all right. I’m a ghost, actually!” She waggled her fingers, and a quavering undertone added itself to her words, beyond what people’s voices could usually accomplish. “I’ve haunted this Chateau for years after my tragic death! Wooooooo….” She backed up further down the hall, moving away from him.

“Well,” Caleb said, trying not to laugh, “if that’s the case, may I please have my cat back?” 

“He’s your cat?” she asked. “I’ve seen you up here all the time, but I’ve never seen him before.”

“Ah, well, I don’t usually bring him out at work. But he’s quite helpful when there are ghosts around.”

“He does seem very helpful,” she said. “Usually it’s really really hard for people to catch me. Where were you keeping him before though?”

Caleb let his held spell dissipate, then snapped Frumpkin away, and back into his arms. “He’s a bit of a magic cat,” he said. “He can go away to another place when he is not with me.”

Her mouth gaped open. “That’s amazing! I’ve never met anyone who could do magic besides me and the Traveler, and my mom a little bit.”

“You have magical talents as well?” he asked. He supposed she must, if she was responsible for the noises he’d heard earlier.

“Well yeah, I’m a ghost,” she replied. “We’re very magical.” 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I have not met many ghosts who are able to hold a cat.”

“Ohhhhh, well, I was just messing with you,” she said. “Of course I’m not a ghost. It was pretty funny though, right?”

“Well, I suppose,” he said. “I do need to go mop up that water now though.”

Her face fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mess things up for you.”

Why was he such an asshole? He’d just met this woman, and already upset her. “It’s all right,” he said. “It won’t take long. Are you visiting the Chateau?”

She brightened immediately. “No, I live here!” she said. “I’m Jester, what’s your name?”

“…Caleb,” he replied. “Do you…work here?”

“Nice to meet you, Caleb!” she said. She extended a hand to shake. He took it slowly, uncomfortably conscious of how damp and grubby his hand was against her well-manicured one. “And yes, I work for the Ruby of the Sea! It’s a secret though, don’t tell anyone, ok?”

“I won’t,” he said. “Do you leave drawings and things in the rooms? I find them when I clean.”

“I know!” she said. “They’re really good, right? I have to go now, but maybe I’ll see you and your cat later, ok?”

“Ah, alright,” he said, as she ran off down the hall, disappearing into the door that led to the Ruby of the Sea’s quarters.

Interesting. That might have raised more questions than it answered, but it had been…diverting, at least? He gave Frumpkin’s ears a scratch before vanishing the cat to his home dimension, and went to get a mop.

 

It was a while before he saw her again. He’d gone back to his usual routine, cleaning the rooms and collecting the drawings Jester left behind. But about a week later, he was asked to take on a shift over dinner, clearing plates in the main hall of the Chateau.

“I wouldn’t ask you,” Mathilde said, “except that half our waiters are ill at the same time. You won’t have to talk to the guests,” she assured him. “I specifically want you to not do that, in fact. If they ask you for anything, just say yes and come back here to deal with it. Other than that, it’ll just be clearing dishes.” Caleb reluctantly agreed. It was more visibility than he’d like, but he supposed it would be fine for a few days. So it was he found himself in an overstarched, much more formal uniform, collecting glasses from the tables of richly dressed diners who looked right through him.

So many of them were careless with their purses. If he could manage to slip one into his pocket… He’d found a spellbook in a shop nearby, and had been trying to obtain it for weeks, but it was far beyond his means. There were too many eyes in here though; he’d have to find another way.

He worked himself into a foul mood as the evening progressed. Too many people around him, too many rich assholes, and he couldn’t even afford a book. One of the diners pulled him aside to complain about the quality of the food. He stared off into the middle distance, determined not to react. 

As he did, he noticed something moving on the landing above the room. A blue face peeked out from behind a curtain. It made eye contact with him and raised a shushing finger to its lips. 

He kept his face impassive and returned the complainer’s meal to the kitchen to be swapped. As he walked away, he heard a resounding fart noise come from the table behind him. It was quickly followed by an even louder one, and a noise of shock from the companion of the man who’d berated him. Caleb bit back a laugh despite himself. When he returned to the hall, the man was gone, his drinks abandoned on the table. Caleb surreptitiously looked up, and saw the blue head pop out from behind the curtain. It was followed by a hand, shooting him a thumbs-up, before vanishing again.

He wasn’t sure why Jester, whoever she was, had picked him of all people to play friendly ghost to, but it was rather amusing. He spotted her around rather frequently, now that he knew what to look for, but it was a good two weeks before he had another conversation with her. 

He was in one of the second-floor rooms this time, pulling off the bedding. He’d been thinking about a way to get his book – the proprietor had put an alarm spell on it, so he’d need time to disable that, so he’d need a diversion… He almost walked into Jester as she stepped out in front of him.

“Hello Caleb!” she said. “It’s been so long since I talked to you! Did you like my tricks?”

He really had, he had to admit. They were silly, but they were a welcome distraction from the rather dull work and the frustratingly slow progress towards his goals. 

“They were amusing, ja,” he said, as he tugged at the bedding. “I’m not sure how you did that last one, with that man’s pants.”

“I’m very clever!” she said. “I can’t tell you my secrets though.”

“Of course,” he said. “I wouldn’t ask you to.” It certainly wasn’t his place to pry, whoever this woman was.

“Maybe someday!” she said. “But I wanted to ask, if you’re not too busy, would you help me with something?”

“Well, I do need to finish this,” he said as he carried the bedding out into the hallway to take downstairs. “But maybe, ja, depending on what it is.”

“So there’s this really really mean guy who’s been seeing the Ruby –” she began, following him out.

As she spoke, Caleb heard voices coming up the stairs below them. One was clearly the Ruby, the other a man’s voice he didn’t recognize.

“Oh no!” Jester cut herself off in a whisper. “We need to hide, c’mon.” She grabbed his hand and started to tug him down the hallway, away from the room they’d just let.

“Actually, I just need to – “ Caleb began, but she was too strong for him. She pulled him further down the hall, leading him, to his horror, into the Ruby’s quarters. He barely had time to take in the first room – stained-glass windows, four-poster bed – before they passed through a door at one side into a magnificent closet, and then back out the other end into a second bedroom. 

This one he could get a better look at, as they stood and caught their breath. Only slightly smaller than the first, and cluttered with objects – clothing, books, paints, tchotchkes. Almost a child’s bedroom, but the jewelry on the vanity was too fine to give to any child, and the risqué title of the nearest book suggested not as well. The far wall was almost taken up by a large window, giving a wide view of the Opal Archway, the docks beyond, and the ocean beyond that.

He called up Frumpkin and sent him into the closet they’d passed through, heard through the cat’s ears the door to the Ruby’s quarters open again. He came back to himself and whispered as much to Jester, who moved back to the closet herself, standing on tiptoe to peer over the top of the door. She waved at him, and he put the bedding down and came over to join her. His job was probably gone at this point anyway, so this might as well be what was happening now, he supposed.

There wasn’t much space, and Jester was pretty close to him, her side brushing against his. It was more contact than he’d had with anyone in years, and he was horrified to find himself blushing. He cursed himself for it – it was absurd, given the circumstances.

He turned his attention to the room they were watching. The Ruby had entered along with her companion, a rather sour-looking man in an over-decorated brimmed hat. He saw the Ruby’s eyes flick to the top of the closet door as she entered. Apparently she didn’t miss a trick. 

“- enjoyed spending this time with you,” the Ruby was saying. “But I’m afraid I’m not feeling terribly well. I need to rest before my performance this evening.” The man with her protested, rather vehemently. 

“I can bang the windows, or make her sound like she’s puking,” Jester whispered in his ear, “but I don’t think it will help? He keeps doing this. Do you have any magic you can do?”

He didn’t have a lot of options, but… He summoned Frumpkin just outside the open door to the Ruby’s chambers, had him wander in and hiss furiously. Both the Ruby and her client looked startled, and the man made for the cat to shoo it away. Frumpkin leapt up onto the man’s head, swiping at his rather ludicrous hat, and then seizing it in his jaws and running off. The man and the Ruby exchanged bewildered looks, and he set off after the cat, yelling for it to stop. The Ruby closed and audibly locked the door behind him. Caleb told Frumpkin to take the hat to the stairs and drop it into the foyer below, then find a place to hide. Hopefully that would be enough embarrassment to keep the client away for now. 

The Ruby was making a beeline for the closet door. Caleb scrambled back, grabbing his armful of laundry again. Gods, what was he doing in here? His job was certainly gone, but maybe he could mitigate the damage, avoid being arrested.

“Jester?” the Ruby said, as she opened the door. “Was that you?”

“Well, sort of?” said Jester. “I found someone to help, but please don’t be mad at him, ok?” She waved Caleb forward. He gulped and stared at the ground.

“Oh, you’re the one who started up here last month,” said the Ruby. “I can’t imagine this was your fault. I see you’ve met my daughter?”

The bottom dropped out of Caleb’s stomach. The Ruby’s daughter… And the way he’d been talking to her, carrying on with her… “I- hadn’t realized,” he said weakly.

“Mama, this is Caleb!” Jester said. “I met him a few weeks ago, and he finds all my drawings, and did you know he had a magic cat?”

The Ruby raised an eyebrow. “I did not,” she said.

Still staring at the ground, Caleb summoned Frumpkin back; he’d dropped the hat and made his escape from the Ruby’s client at this point. He didn’t dare have the cat try to touch the Ruby, asking him instead to sit on the ground in front of her and look adorable.

“Oh!” she said. “Where did he come from? Is he real?” She bent down slightly to let the cat sniff at her hand.

“He’s quite real,” Caleb said. “He just goes to another place sometimes.”

The Ruby looked up at him, considering. “Are you a magician then? That’s quite a secret.”

“I’m nobody,” Caleb replied. “I just know a few tricks.”

“What else are you able to do?” she asked. Caleb blinked at her – this was not at all how he’d expected this to go – but ran briefly through his other skills: fire, a bit of transmutation, suggestion.

The Ruby nodded. “This may be convenient,” she said. “Please return to your duties for now though. I’ll speak to you about it when I’ve decided. And please don’t mention Jester to anyone. It’s a bit of a delicate situation, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

Caleb agreed – what else could he do? – and returned to his work for the day.

Maybe he should just disappear now. She was unlikely to let him stay long, and she knew about his magic. If she investigated, or got the Zhelezo involved, or had some dangerous task in mind for him… But she’d shown no real signs of that, and his situation here was better than it had been in years. He’d be on alert, but he wouldn’t run yet.

Even if he stayed on, he surely wouldn’t be allowed to see Jester any more. That was a shame – he’d enjoyed the few encounters they’d had. Nothing to be done about it though.

It was two long days of work before the Ruby contacted him. Then he was called up to her chambers at the end of a shift. He wiped the dust from his hands as best he could before walking upstairs. 

The Ruby sat on a couch in her parlor, wrapped in a robe and looking exhausted. “Please, sit,” she said, gesturing to a chair across the room. He perched on the edge, uncomfortable in the fine room.

“My daughter seems to like you,” she said.

“I couldn’t say,” Caleb replied. He suspected it was more likely he’d just been in the right place at the right time for her to talk to.

“I hope she hasn’t been interfering with your work,” she continued.

“Not at all,” said Caleb. “She’s been –” a delight, he bit back “– a bit mysterious at first, but no trouble to me.”

“From what the other staff tell me, you work hard and keep to yourself. And you’ve had chances to harm or gossip about my daughter and taken none of them. But you must forgive me my suspicions – a man with magical talents from very far away, coming here to work as a servant? What are your intentions here?”

“You’re not wrong to be suspicious,” Caleb admitted. “I have made – some very bad mistakes in my life, and I’m here trying to make them right, if I can. But in regard to your daughter – I wish her only well, and I wouldn’t risk either of our positions by speaking about her loosely. She’s been, ah, enlivening, in my time here.”

The Ruby nodded. “She certainly is that. That’s a good enough answer for me. I have a request for you, in that case. It’s not possible for me to bring Jester of the Chateau, and it’s difficult to find her a suitable escort. She seems to like you, and with your magical skills, I hope you could protect her if anything goes wrong. Would you be amenable to accompanying her into the city occasionally?”

That was certainly a surprise. “I have no objection,” Caleb said. “But I wouldn’t have thought – “

“Thank you,” said the Ruby. “I’ll ask that you be scheduled to clean her rooms as well.” For the first time, Caleb saw a quaver in her perfectly controlled expression. “Jester is - I’ve given her everything I can, but she’s lonely sometimes, I think. If you can continue to be kind to her…”

“I wouldn’t call myself kind,” Caleb said. “But I’ll do what she requests of me.”

The Ruby smiled. “Well, within reason please. You’ll be sent for tomorrow to escort Jester out. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some rest.”

“Of course,” Caleb said. He bowed and left the room, returning to his boardinghouse for the night. What a strange development. He was oddly pleased about it though, that he would get to see her more often. Only as a matter of convenience on her end, of course. And it surely wouldn’t be long before he fucked it up, did something to show his true colors and got thrown back out on the street.

He began the next morning. Before his shift, he was called up again to the Ruby’s quarters and sent through the closet to Jester’s room, where they’d hidden before.  
Jester flung the door wide open as soon as he’d knocked. “You’re here!” she exclaimed. “I’m so excited to go out. And I’m glad you said yes. I was worried Mama would scare you away.”

“No, she was quite kind to me,” Caleb said. “Are you, ah, doing well?” He wasn’t quite sure how to talk to her now, knowing what her position was. But she seemed the same as ever.

“Yes, everything is really great!” Jester said. “I’ve been drawing a lot, and my best friend came to visit the other day, so I got to talk to him and it was really really nice. And now you’re here too, so that’s even better.” She stepped back to let him enter the room. “I think I am expected to clean first,” said Caleb, looking around at the clutter. “Before we go to the marketplace. And I may not be such good company as you imagine.”

“Oh, well, that’s ok,” Jester said. “I get to talk to the Traveler, and Mama, and Blude so I have lots of friends really. I won’t bother you while you clean if you don’t want me to.”

Another pang of guilt hit Caleb. “I didn’t mean – it won’t bother me at all if you talk. I just might not be a good conversationalist in response.”

“Oh! Do you know about the Traveler?” she asked. “I can tell you about him.” 

“I’ve never heard of him,” Caleb said. “He is your friend?”

“He’s my best friend,” said Jester. “And he’s a god too. He’s super cool.”

She continued to talk as he cleaned up a little, telling him about the god, apparently, who came to talk to her in her rooms. It seemed rather suspicious to Caleb, but he said nothing. She didn’t seem harmed by her visitor, and anyway, who was he to judge? 

It didn’t take long before he was finished and ready to escort her into the city. He’d been told to remain within the Opal Archway district, so she could go to some of the shops there. He wasn’t so familiar with the neighborhood himself. He passed through on his way to work, and he had the layout memorized, but it wasn’t the kind of place where he could linger. 

“Have you been there frequently?” he asked Jester. Gods damn it, he wasn’t so far gone he couldn’t hold a conversation.

“Well, a couple times?” she said. “Blude takes me when he can, but he’s usually busy guarding my mom. I’ve seen it a lot though, out of my window.”

She must spend a lot of time in this room. It was an odd contrast to her cheerful demeanor. Had it been this way her whole life? The Ruby clearly cared about her, but it seemed a difficult way to grow up. He asked her about Nicodranas as they made their way out of the Chateau, trying to gauge how much she knew about the city she’d grown up in. Quite a bit in theory, it seemed – she’d been well-educated, and the view from her window was as good as a map – but the number of times she’d left the Lavish Chateau really was in the single digits.

Jester slipped a cloak over her head as they made their way downstairs. She would stick out in any crowd, but it at least made her unusual features less obvious. She was dressed well enough to fit in with those who frequented the Opal Archway, and Caleb, in his servant’s uniform, faded into the background at her side. 

It was only a few blocks to the main shopping street of the district. Even during the day, without the rainbow of lights that decorated it in the evening, the neighborhood was striking. The beauty and variety around him still struck Caleb, although the feeling was soured for him – it reminded him of the awe he’d felt when he’d first arrived in Rexxentraum as a boy. Still, as Jester pulled her cloak down and rushed into the crowd, the delight on her face overrode that for a moment, let him appreciate the place through fresh eyes.

It made him a little sad too, to see how thrilled she was to be outside. She ran about the market, distracted by each new thing and spending money like water. That put him off, just a little, but of course she would have no sense of what things were worth. And she was so open with each person she spoke to, so happy to learn about them. It was more than charming enough to make up for it.

They spent only an hour that day, as the Ruby had requested her daughter back safe quickly. But it was the first of many visits. It became another element of his routine, one that never grew dull. He’d go to her rooms to clean while she chatted about her life. He learned about her tutors, the cool things she’d seen from her window, new spells she’d learned from the Traveler, ghost stories from Nicodranas…

She’d ask him questions too, sometimes. He deflected any direct questions about himself or his past, but she asked more often about the world outside her room, about what he’d seen in Nicodranas or on his travels. That seemed harmless enough to recount, so he told her about his impressions of the city, of the long road here from the Empire, even about the fields of Blumenthal. 

He was growing far too comfortable, he knew. He was settling into this life, into her company, and making far little progress on his work. But piece of garbage that he was, he didn’t want to give it up yet. He would one of these days, he told himself. It didn’t hurt to save up more money, collect more information about the city, while he bided his time. That was if the decision to leave wasn’t made for him, when she grew tired of him or realized what he was. He held the guilt in place for some time this way, but eventually things came to a head.

He was back in the marketplace with Jester, a few weeks after their first visit, when they passed by the bookshop that housed the spellbook he’d been eyeing. “Do you want to go in here?” Jester asked him. “You’re always looking at my books.”

“Wherever you’d like to go,” he replied. She entered the bookshop, and he followed after. His book was still there, on display and magically warded. He couldn’t resist taking another look at it as Jester wandered around the shop.

“Are you interested in that one?” she asked. “Do you want me to buy it for you?”

The book was nearly a hundred gold, a fortune almost unimaginable for him. It discussed transmutation magic, and the desire he felt when he looked at it, thought of the spells it contained, was nearly a physical pain. Did Jester have that kind of money? He’d seen her toss around coin, and the Ruby certainly wore outfits worth at least as much as the book. She wouldn’t know what it was worth, and he’d certainly be taking advantage of her. But it would help him a lot, if he could live with a little extra stain on his conscience.

He’d have to leave afterwards, of course, if she mentioned it to her mother. But what was there to hold him here? Take the book and whatever else he could grab, vanish, move on to another city to work towards his goals. It would be a betrayal of the Ruby’s trust, but he’d done much worse than scam some rich courtesan before.

On the other hand, he really did like his situation here. He had resources, a roof over his head, social connections. He could find another way to get the book, somehow. And besides, he found Jester’s company entertaining. If he could keep that for a while longer…

He tried to convince himself that staying was only practical, but the sick feeling in his gut told him that wasn’t true. Jester’s company was more than just entertaining. It felt like a friendship, the first he’d had in years. It wasn’t really, of course. He was an amusement to her, a way to alleviate her boredom. But even so… He wanted to stay around her, to help keep her happy. She made him feel almost like a person again, not just some lamprey floating around the edges of society.

Shit.

“I can’t accept gifts that expensive from you,” he said. “I would lose my job.” He cursed himself for a sentimental fool even as he said it. But it was too late now. Well, he’d wasted years already. He could afford to wait a little longer, until she grew tired of him.

“Well, that’s silly,” she said. “But if you say so. I don’t want to get you in trouble. Let me get you something else though, I have a really good idea!” She went to the back of the store, where the lower-quality stock was tucked away. She picked out one, keeping it hidden behind her back. “I’ll show you when we get back to my room.”

She brought it to the shopkeeper to pay, passing over a silver and earning a smirk in return. Caleb took the wrapped-up book, along with her other packages, and they returned to the Chateau. 

She shoved it at him as soon as they’d made it back to her rooms. He unwrapped the paper to find a romance novel, the lurid cover featuring a woman with her dress half ripped off, swooning in the arms of a muscled goliath. He flipped through the first few pages, and coughed a little. They certainly didn’t waste any time.

“You should take it home and read it,” Jester said with an exaggerated wink. “When you’re alone tonight.”

Caleb felt himself blushing and tried to hold it back. “Perhaps,” he said. “It looks edifying.” Desperate to change the topic, he asked: “Did you have a good time today?”

“It was wonderful!” she said. “It’s always so fun when I get to go out. And I found some nice jewelry, and I rearranged that one stall’s apples to make a dick without him even noticing!” She’d moved some of the yellow apples to the section of red ones, so the pattern would stand out. “Thank you for taking me.”

“Of course,” Caleb said. “It was my pleasure.”

She walked over to him, laid a hand on his arm. “No, really, thank you,” she said, suddenly serious. “I’ve gone outside the Chateau more since I met you than in my entire life.”

It shouldn’t mean much to her, he knew. He was being paid for this, and anyone in his place would do the same, even if he truly did enjoy being around her and seeing her happy. He couldn’t say that, of course, and in fact couldn’t think of anything to say at all. She was standing close to him, enough that he could smell her, cinnamon and fancy perfume and a hint of sweat from the warm day. It was so different from what he was used to, the reeks of unwashed human and cheap spilled beer and muck that had filled his days before he came here.

He’d go back to that soon enough, he reminded himself. He didn’t belong here. It was only a matter of time before she or the Ruby realized what a piece of shit he was, or simply grew bored of him, and he’d go back to the filth and the endless travel.

“We can do this as often as you like,” he managed. “I’m happy to go with you whenever I’m excused from my work.” Her hand still rested on his arm. He raised his other hand, moved to lay it on top of hers, but caught himself in time. Idiot, thinking that might be welcome. “I have to go now,” he said quickly. “But I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good night.”

“You too, Caleb,” she said quietly, releasing his arm. He fled. 

As their visits to the marketplace became even more frequent, Jester began to ask if they could venture into other areas of the city. He certainly couldn’t bring her to any of the parts he frequented, but perhaps there’d be no harm in a visit to the ocean, or to the craftsmen’s districts of the city. The Ruby was reluctant though, fearing for her daughter’s safety, so they stuck to the Opal Archway for now.

One evening, as he was making his way to a tavern in the Open Quay, he noticed someone trailing him. He’d been given the night off, so he planned to set up there and run the money pot, supplement his income a little. He felt that he knew the town well enough by now to get away with minimal risk if he needed to. But though he’d spoken to no one yet, he was already being followed. He’d put on his ragged coat to keep out the chill night breeze, and made a poor target for muggers – was it someone who’d recognized him?

He turned into a shopping street, to catch a glimpse of the person behind him in the reflective windows. A dark-haired human woman, he saw, with oddly familiar features. He called Frumpkin up into a nearby alley and had him approach the woman. She beamed at the cat, scooping him up and calling him by name in a familiar voice.

Caleb stepped off the main street and let her catch up. “Caleb!” she stage-whispered. “It’s me, Jester! I learned a new trick.”

“That is you under there?” he whispered back. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“The Traveler just taught me yesterday!” she said. She dropped the spell, turning back to herself for a moment, and then put it back up again. “And I thought, it’s hard for me to go out at night or outside the market because I’m cool looking and everyone pays attention and my mama worries, but now I can just look like a boring human. No offense, Caleb.”

“None taken. But does your mother know you’re out here?” 

“Well, no. But she’s busy all night, so I can get back before she’s done, and it’s not a problem.”

“Jester, I’m sorry, but I am not working tonight,” he said. He tried not to meet Jester’s eyes, hating to see her disappointed. He was a bit self-conscious as well. This was the first time she’d seen him out of his work uniform, with stained clothing and hair left wild. “And I am going to not so great a place. I don’t think you want to come with me.” 

“I do though!” she protested. “I want to see all kinds of places. And maybe you can take me there just as my friend, not as a servant? Only if you want to though. I don’t mean to bother you if you’re busy.”

“Well, I am not so busy,” he said. “And I would like to be a friend to you, as best I can. I just don’t know if it is safe.”

“I’ll be really careful, Caleb, I promise. No tricks on anyone tonight.” She looked at him sadly. Even with her features turned human, he couldn't say no to those eyes. He did know one place he could take her to, he decided, a tavern not too far off with a better clientele and music in the evenings.

“All right,” he said, and she clapped her hands together joyfully. He cast a disguise spell on himself as well, to bring the quality of his clothes a bit closer to hers, and led her on towards the tavern.

It was bustling when they arrived, light and music spilling from the door. The large room was crowded, with tables around the edges and a fiddler and piper playing in the center. They ducked around the side to reach the bar, where he ordered an ale for himself and a milk for her. He scoped out a table while she introduced herself to the bartender, finding one in the corner with just enough space for the two of them.

They watched the room for a while. “There are so many people!” Jester said. “Oh, and they’re dancing now!” as a few couples got up and began to whirl about in the center of the room. “Do you know how to dance, Caleb?”

“Not this kind,” he said. “I learned some other dances when I was young, but it’s been a very long time. Do you?”

“Yes!” she said. “My mama dances with me sometimes. And I had lessons for a while, a couple years ago. I’ve never done it with a lot of people though.”

“Do you know this one?” he asked. 

“Of course! Everyone in Nicodranas knows this one probably. Do you want me to teach you?”

“I’ll just step on your feet,” he said. “I’m very out of practice.” He very well might – the song playing now was terrifyingly fast.

“Did you take lessons too?” she asked. “Or learn from your parents?”

The ale must have gone to his head more than he’d realized, because he gave her a proper answer. “I learned some from my parents,” he said. “My village would have dances sometimes, when I was small. And I took lessons later, at school, to learn more formal dances.”

“I bet you’re really good then!” she said. The music changed, still up-tempo but a little more calmly paced. “This one’s really fun too. Will you dance with me?”

What would be the harm? He let her take his hand and lead him out into the room. She walked him though the steps. They weren’t so different from one of the folk dances he’d learned as a boy. Once he’d picked it up, they moved to the center of the room to join the other dancers.

They’d just held hands between them while he learned the steps, but she moved in closer now, placing a hand on his shoulder. He put his hand in the usual place on her lower back, trying not to sweat or tense up. It had been a long time since he’d been in this position with anyone.

He focused on the steps, counting each beat of music. He forced himself to keep his head up, not stare at his feet. It was easy, after a moment, to fall back into it. Jester wasn’t well-practiced, necessarily, but she was enthusiastic. They moved quickly across the floor. He raised his hand to turn her and was rewarded with a delighted grin.

He found himself smiling back. He relaxed into it, letting himself enjoy the dance. He turned Jester again, and she spun quickly, flaring her skirt out around her. As she finished, the music shifted again. The other dancers moved to the edge of the floor, forming a circle with hands linked. He and Jester hurried to catch up and join the ring. One at a time, couples moved into the center, galloping around the circle before swapping out with another pair.

It was their turn before long. He didn’t resist when Jester tugged him into the middle to speed around the ring. He put a little flair on it, even, throwing her into an extra spin at the end and finishing with a tiny dip. 

When he looked down at her, he saw her blue features, returned to their usual form. He checked his wrist, saw the stained and ragged sleeve of his coat. The dancers around them had stopped moving, and everyone was staring at them.

“Ta-da!” Jester called out, standing upright and throwing an arm wide. “Come see our show next week! Full of magical transformations!” She bowed dramatically, and he quickly did the same, before they hurried out of the tavern and into the night.

His heart pounded, but no one seemed to be following them, or even paying much attention as they melted into the drunken evening crowd. Once they’d put some distance between themselves and the tavern, they collapsed against a wall, panting for breath. 

What on earth had happened there? The fear and adrenaline filling Caleb’s body escaped as hysterical laughter. He was helpless for a few moments, choking on it; Jester leaned against him, doing the same.

“Well, that could have ended better,” he said when he’d recovered. “But, ah, that was- Thank you. I didn’t realize I could have fun like that anymore.”

“Thank you too,” said Jester softly. She was still too close to him. He needed to be careful – he was letting himself get carried away. “That was really fun. I’m glad you didn’t make me go home.”

He forced himself to shift away from her, just a little. “I, ah, don’t think I could make you do anything. I’m your servant still, hmm? But we should get you home before your mother’s work is finished.”

He walked her back to the Chateau, left her on its grounds before returning to his own neighborhood. There, lying on his back in the flophouse bunk, he thought first of what he’d need to do tomorrow, the coin for the spellbook he still had to scam. He thought of his parents, walking him through the steps of a dance as a tiny child. He thought of Astrid, swift and sure in his arms years ago. And finally, before sleep took him, he thought of Jester.

 

A few days later, as they left the Chateau for another walk through the Opal Archway district, Jester asked him about the spellbook again. “Did you ever manage to buy it? Are you suuure you don’t want to borrow some money?”

“No, it’s all right,” he said. “I haven’t, but I’ll figure something out.”

“Oh!” she said. “What if you steal it? You’re good at being super sneaky sometimes, I bet you could do it.”

He blinked at her. “I don’t think – “

“Have you ever done that, Caleb?” she asked. “Or anything shady like that?” When he didn’t answer right away, she continued: “Only, you’re usually so reluctant to talk about yourself, and you came here from really far away. I thought maybe, you’re secretly a criminal or something, and you’re on the run, or just embarrassed about it?”

“I-” he began, hesitant. It had to come out sooner or later though. Her good opinion of him couldn’t last forever. “You’re correct, Jester. I did – a lot of bad things, before I met you.”

She nodded slowly. “You robbed people?”

“Ja. I was alone on the road for a long time, and it wasn’t good, but you have to eat somehow, you know?”

“Well, that’s ok,” she said. “People do way worse things than stealing food.”

“Not just that,” he replied. There was a little scratch on the wall just past her head. He focused on it as he spoke. “Supplies to do magic, money from people who didn’t have much. More than just food.” He took a slow breath. “We have been spending more time together than may be appropriate, and I don’t want to deceive you about this. You should know that I am not a good man.”

“Well, you’ve always been really nice to me!” she said. “So I am going to help you get your book, ok?”

He didn’t want to argue with her, after her acceptance so far. And he really did need that book. “Ja, ok.”

“Great!” she said. “I’m so excited – it will be like a heist, and I’ll be the very sexy lady thief, and you’ll be the dashing scoundrel. We can sneak in at night! Maybe we should get you a sword.”

Perhaps at this point he should just accept her initial offer of money. But she was having a good time, and he was much less bothered by robbing the shopkeeper than by taking advantage of her. “I don’t think I could quite pull off dashing,” Caleb said. “I do have a slightly easier plan in mind, if that is ok with you?” The book was alarmed, but he could undo the spell with ten minutes work and swap it for another volume. Not so many people entered the bookshop, so if Jester distracted the owner, he should have time. He’d have to take the book some distance away and copy it that night, before it was noticed missing and a caster was found to locate it. “Would you be able to cause a diversion?”

“Oh, yes, I’m really really good at that!” she said.

She certainly was. Two days later, in the bookshop, Caleb quickly dispelled the alarm while the shopkeeper was preoccupied with a very particular eleven woman looking for a book she remembered from her childhood. He heard her indignant protests – “That one simply won’t do either!” – as he slipped the spellbook into his satchel and replaced it with a similarly-sized volume on sailing techniques. He walked to a tavern across the city, still under cover of a disguise spell, and settled down with a corner and a mug of ale to transcribe the spells it contained. What an incredibly stroke of luck to get this. The magic inside was more progress than he’d made in months, would bring him so much closer to reaching his goals.

He finished just as the sun was starting to rise. Leaving the book on the tavern bench, he stumbled back to his flat for a few hours rest before his shift at the Chateau. It was far too long before he got to see Jester – he was needed in the kitchens most of the day.

“Did it work?” she asked as soon as he’d made it up to her rooms. “I felt kind of guilty after you left, so I dropped some money for the shopkeeper to find. So I hope you got what you need, or we’ll have to go steal that back too.”

He assured her that it had. “Thank you, Jester,” he said. It wasn’t adequate to express what he felt, how much this level of undeserved trust had meant. But she smiled at him anyway, before telling him about the letter she’d written to the Traveler last night.

 

They’d taken a few other excursions outside of his work hours, a couple times to the ocean, and once to the street where with his lodging-house, after she’d begged him incessantly to see it. He was taken by surprise a few weeks later when she showed at his door. It was fairly early morning, though late enough for most people to be up and about, and he was preparing to head to work when she arrived.

She ducked in with a cloak over her head, only throwing it back when the door was closed. She looked troubled, though she still beamed at him in greeting.

“Jester?” he asked. “What’s going on?”

“Welll,” she said. “I got into a little bit of trouble last night? And I thought it was really funny, but this guy is still super mad apparently, and he’s looking for me? So I was wondering if I could maybe stay here for a little bit, just until he gets tired of that?”

Caleb drew the rest of the story out of her. She’d locked one of her mother’s clients out on a balcony, in the nude, and he hadn’t taken it well.

“Of course you can stay here,” he said. “I’ll go to the Chateau and try to speak with your mother, all right?”

The Ruby was in Jester’s room, put-together as always but obviously worried. Caleb assured her that Jester was safe and in hiding, flushing a little when he mentioned that she was in his rooms. That couldn’t be terribly reassuring.

The Ruby only seemed relieved, however. “I’m worried this won’t blow over soon,” she said. “I’m doing what I can, but Lord Sharpe is a stubborn man, and a proud one, and this was a blow to his ego. He’s calling for her execution.”

“Over such a small thing?” Caleb asked.

“People here are sometimes put to death over much less, if they’ve offended the wrong person,” the Ruby said. “I’m afraid she may have to leave town for a while.” She looked at him, considering. “You’ve traveled a great deal, yes? I know it is a large favor to ask, but would you be willing to go with her? She’s never left Nicodranas, not even been out of her rooms as much as she should have been able to. I hate the thought of sending her off alone.”

“I have nothing holding me in Nicodranas,” he said. “If she’ll have me as a companion, I’ll go with her. I’ll do my best to keep her safe.”

“Thank you,” she said. “You’ve been a good friend to her these past months, it seems, and I need to ask you to be a better one now. Please take care of her.”

“Do you want to come say goodbye to her?” he asked. “She’s waiting at my rooms.”

The Ruby closed her eyes. “I can’t,” she said. “Lord Sharpe’s guards will follow if I leave. But here, wait one moment.” She went to Jester’s desk and wrote a letter, which she folded and handed to him. Then she opened a safe, set inside one of the wardrobes, and passed him two heavy pouches. “Money for the journey,” she said. “One for you and one for Jester. I wish I could do more.”

Then there was little else to say. “I’ll keep her safe,” he promised again, before hurrying back to his rooms. Jester was still there, curled in a corner, drawing in her sketchpad. He gave her the letter from her mother and the pouches of money, then set about gathering up his few possessions, giving her space while she read.

“At least I get to go see the world now,” Jester said after she’d finished. “I’ll miss her so much though.”

“I know,” Caleb said. He could do so little to help her, useless piece of shit that he was. They picked up their things and set off. Jester seemed to cheer up a little as they made their way through the streets of Nicodranas, the excitement of travel doing its part to help. They’d almost made it to the gates of the city when things went wrong. 

Jester wasn’t wearing a disguise spell – she only had so much time on each, and it might take them a while to secure transport and pass through the gates. So she walked through the city hidden only by a cloak shadowing her face. Caleb tried to keep to emptier side streets, but they couldn’t avoid all passerby. Jester stumbled at one point, and pulled a blue hand out of her pocket to catch herself. A man down the street from them, leaning against a wall having a smoke, clearly clocked it.

Caleb cursed. He hurried them down the road, hoping to lose the man, but he didn’t know this part of the city so well. The man ignored the Zhelezo he passed – no doubt hoping to catch her himself and secure a bounty – but if he pursued them too long there was no guarantee that would continue. The situation had to be dealt with. 

Caleb stepped aside into an alley, leading Jester with him, and slowed to let the man catch up. He’d offer coin, first – maybe that would be enough to dissuade him. If not, well, they were fleeing the city anyway. He just wished Jester wouldn’t see what he might have to do.

No such luck. The man laughed off Caleb’s offer of gold. “You know how much the Zhelezo’re offering for her?” He pulled out a knife. Jester yelped and sent a bolt of light at him, at the same time as Caleb released a spell from the diamond he kept hidden.

The light hit but was shrugged off; the cold from the diamond missed entirely. The man swung his knife towards them, and Caleb fell back on instinct, sending a firebolt at his chest.

The man’s shirt ignited, and he screamed and dropped the knife, batting at the flames. He stumbled forward, crashing into Caleb and knocking them both down into a pile of trash against the wall of the alley. Caleb pushed him away, but all he could see were the flames, too close to his face. He could smell the burning now too, and he wanted to go put it out, but someone was holding onto him and he couldn’t move. They were still screaming, too close, and his face was warm but he couldn’t move to fix it – 

When he came to, he was sitting in the back of a wagon. Nicodranas was receding into the distance behind him. He looked down at himself. His hands were black with ash, and he smelled like soot and garbage.

He turned his head, to see a well-dressed human woman sitting next to him. “Jester?” he asked. His voice was rough.

“Caleb!” she said. She dropped her disguise. There was a streak of ash down one side of her face, and a few drops of blood on her sleeve. “You’re back! That was so scary, I didn’t know what had happened to you. But I went to the gate, and I found these people going to the Dwendalian empire to sell wine, and I had to give them a looot of money, but they agreed to take us too. I told them you were my crazy uncle though, so don’t flirt with me too much, ok?”

She’d gotten them out. He’d lost it, been totally useless, but she’d been clever enough to manage. “I think I can pull off crazy uncle,” he said. “I’m sorry I left you like that.”

“It’s ok, Caleb,” she said. She placed one of her hands over his, dirty as it was. He almost flinched, but she didn’t press any closer – just let it sit there, cool and comfortable. “I was just worried.”

“It just – happens sometimes,” he said. “Bad memories.”

“Was it the fire?” she asked, and he nodded. He waited for more questions, but she didn’t press further.

He owed her more than that. “You know I’m not a good person,” he told her again. Maybe it didn’t need saying. She’d just watched him set a man on fire.

She was quiet for a moment. “I figured that you’ve done some really bad things, that you don’t want to talk about. You’ve pretty much told me that before. But you don’t need to tell me more than that right now, ok? You’re doing good things now – you’ve been really good to me – and that’s all I need to know.” 

It wasn’t nearly true enough, but he didn’t want to contradict her. He wanted to be the person she somehow saw him as. She was alone in the world now too, and he’d do what he could to make it easier on her. He turned his hand over where it rested underneath hers and entwined their fingers.

They sat like that for a long while, watching Nicodranas grow smaller and smaller. As the sun began to set, she spoke again. “I thought about doing this with you sometimes, you know? Leaving Nicodranas. It seemed very romantic.”

He laughed. “That’s hardly what we’ve got here, hmm? I’ve seen some of your books where the fine lady runs off with the lowly servant, but he’s generally brave and strapping, not a half-mad vagrant wizard.”

She crossed her arms, put on an exaggerated pout. “This is all wrong, it’s very true. We don’t have any nice horses, and you smell a little gross right now, and no one has tried to ravish me yet even a little. And everything’s a lot sadder. I don’t think any of the girls in those books miss their moms. I feel kind of silly when I think about it now.”

“I don’t think you’re silly,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting something better.”

“But I sort of am getting that, aren’t I?” she said. “I’m going off to see the world, and we’re going to have some great adventures, and I’ll find some neat things for the Traveler, and maybe I’ll find my dad… And I don’t even have to go alone because you’re coming with me.”

She turned to face him. “And maybe this is silly too, but there’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

She kissed him, then. 

He froze, taken by surprise. She pulled away. “Sorry. If you don’t want to…”

He couldn’t stand the expression on her face. “No, no! It’s – it’s not that at all.” The selfish part of him was screaming, wanted to pull her back towards, twine his fingers in her hair. “I’ve done – nothing to deserve this. You could do so much better than a piece of garbage like me.”

“That’s definitely not true, Caleb,” she said. “You know, my mama’s been with all kinds of fancy lords and devastatingly handsome men, and she says it doesn’t matter how good or important they are if they’re not good to you. There’s no better, there’s just better for you. And you are, Caleb! We take care of each other, right?”

That last was true, he hoped. She’d saved him, back there, and brought him joy so many times before that. He’d done what he could to help her, wanted to protect her now. She’d found some value in it, somehow. And if she’d asked him for it, if it would make her happier for now… Maybe he’d let the selfish part win.

“Wait one moment,” he said. He took off his coat, folded it behind him. Most of the smell was coming from there. 

Tentatively, he reached a hand out towards her. It had been so long since he’d done this, he scarcely remembered how. As soon as his fingers brushed against her hair, she leaned in, pressing her lips to his again.

There was some fumbling adjustment to keep their noses from colliding, but Caleb scarcely noticed. This was good and right and peaceful; for just a moment, the guilty voice in his head shut up. His skin felt rough against hers, but she leaned into the touch anyway. 

When they broke away, he looked at her for a long moment, this lonely, beautiful woman who’d brought happiness where he thought there could be none. He was worthless, but he’d been given this treasure, and he’d care for it as best he could.

**Author's Note:**

> Most of the details about Nicodranas and the Lavish Chateau come from the show (I can't take credit!). This was written around the time of campaign 2 episode 45, and the dynamic between Caleb and Jester was heavily influenced by their conversation in episode 42.
> 
> The prompt for this story was: "Caleb is a servant in Jester's household and adores her (platonically or romantically) but thinks she could never see him as anything but worthless. She takes an interest in the broken man skittering around the edges of her world with his head down and decides to solve the mystery and drag him out of his shell."
> 
> (Again, thank you hufflepirate for such an awesome idea! I had a great time writing this.)


End file.
